ATU546 – Veterans Day Special and Adaptive Sports with Karen Lawrence, Ricky Raley and Audie Kemp

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Your weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist people with disabilities and special needs.

Special Guests:

Karen Lawrence, CTRS – RHI Sports Director

With: Audie Kemp and Ricky Raley

 

Email: rhisports@rhin.com

phone: 317-329-2020

Facebook: @rhisportsprogram

Instagram:@rhisp

——– Transcript Starts Here ——–

Ricky Raley:
This is Ricky Raley and I’m a US army veteran. And I have been an avid hand cyclist and many other adaptive sports.

Audie Kemp:
Hi, I’m Audie Kemp. I’m the owner of ATP Connect, also on the board of directors of RHI Sports Program.

Karen Lawrence:
And hi, I am Karen Lawrence. I’m the director of the RHI Sports Program. And this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Josh Anderson:
Hello, and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson, with the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 546 of Assistive Technology Update, it’s scheduled to be released on November 12th, 2021. On today’s show we’re going to celebrate Veterans Day a day late here by replaying an interview about adaptive sports for veterans featuring Karen Lawrence, Audie Kemp and Ricky Raley. We’ll be back next week with a whole new interview, but don’t forget, you can always reach out to us at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org. Give us a call at (317) 721-7124 or shoot us a line on Twitter at INDATA Project. Now let’s go ahead and get on with the show.

Josh Anderson:
After all these months of lockdown, maybe you’re looking for some new podcast to listen to. Well make sure to check out our sister podcast, Accessibility Minute and ATFAQ or Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions. If you’re super busy and don’t have time to listen to a full podcast, be sure to check out Accessibility Minute, our one minute long podcast that gives you just a little taste of something Assistive Technology based so that you’re able to get your Assistive Technology fix without taking up the whole day. Hosted by Tracy Castillo, this show comes out weekly. Other show is Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions or ATFAQ. On Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions, Brian Norton leads our panel of experts, including myself Belva Smith and our own Tracy Castillo, as we try to answer your Assistive Technology questions. This show does rely on you, so we’re always looking for new questions, comments or even your answers on Assistive Technology questions.

Josh Anderson:
So remember, if you’re looking for more Assistive Technology podcast to check out, you can check out our sister shows, Accessibility Minute and ATFAQ wherever you get your podcast now, including Spotify and Amazon Music. Today’s show comes out on November 12th, which is one day after Veterans Day here in the United States. Veterans Day is a day that we take time to really think about and appreciate the veterans who have served this great country in our many branches of the military. So for today, we’re doing something a little bit different. We’re actually going to replay an interview from September of 2020, about adaptive sports for veterans. It’s really a great interview and I think it really gets into talking about, not just adaptive sports, but also just some of the issues that may be faced by some of our veterans. In the work we do here at Easter Seals Crossroads and our clinical team, we do a lot of work with veterans through the VIS program or VA prosthetics, as it’s known, which is a blind and low vision program through the VA.

Josh Anderson:
We also work with a lot of folks who work for the VA. We also work with a lot of folks who maybe have acquired disabilities from their time in the military, older adults who served in the military and much like all the work we do here it is always very, very rewarding work. I do not believe that one day is enough to really take out to think about and appreciate the veterans that do serve this country of ours. So I did want to take just a few minutes here to appreciate those folks. To appreciate the folks who make the conscious choice to serve this great nation of ours, who selflessly put their lives on hold and their lives on the line to join our military, our different branches and serve this idea that is America.

Josh Anderson:
So many times, especially in the news cycle, we might see just how divided we are and how different, but I feel if you break it down and you really do look at it, many of us want the same kind of things. And if we maybe take the time to look at what keeps us to the same and what we really do want out of life, we’ll find that we share much more in common than we have differences. But to really look at the branches of our military is a beautiful tapestry of what America can be, for you see every race, every gender, every Cree, every religion and all these folks who were born here or perhaps have immigrated here, their families did, who’ve been here for generations or for very few generations, who decide to serve this country to try to make it better, to try to ensure that democracy prevails, that tyranny falls.

Josh Anderson:
That again this idea that all men could be created free and we can argue about how that may have not been written with the best of intentions, but America is a living, breathing country. And one thing that it’s always been able to do since it’s inception is get better, is find and make those changes and a lot of that is due to the men and women that serve this country as our military. So if you’re with us, join me in listening to this great interview with folks from a little over a year ago, kind of during part of the height of the pandemic, but also join me in celebrating our veterans, not just on Veterans Day, but every single day of the week.

Josh Anderson:
So if you are a veteran and you’re listening to this, you have a family member, friend, or anybody like that, thank you. Thank you for what you’ve done for us. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for making that choice, making that sacrifice. I imagine it could not have been easy. I imagine that sometimes it’s very, very hard. And one thing we need to do as civilians, as those folks who are not veterans is ensure that we do support our veterans, that we do help them, and that we do what we can to support them since they did all they could to support us. Thank you very much veterans. Thank you for all that you do, for all that you’ve done every day of the year. Now, let’s go ahead and get on with the rest of the show. Sports is a huge part of our culture. From a great pastime to a wonderful bonding experience, sports allows us to come together and work for a common goal.

Josh Anderson:
These days I really miss sports. But today we’re super excited to have some very special guests on our show to talk about adaptive sports for veterans. Our guests today are athletes Audie Kemp and Ricky Raley, along with the sports director from Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, Karen Lawrence. And they’re here to tell us all about adaptive sports for veterans. Karen, Audie, Ricky, welcome to the show.

Karen Lawrence:
Thank you.

Audie Kemp:
Thank you.

Josh Anderson:
Well, I want to start off today by just learning a little bit about our guests. So I guess Audie we’ll start with you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Audie Kemp:
Well, I am actually one of the first athletes that began with the RHI Sports Program back in the ’90s. I’d played to wheelchair sports since I was 15 years old. A little bit about me and my disability, I am a T12 paraplegic incomplete. Since the age of five, I’ve participated in the RHI Sports Program since the beginning. I was actually at the first water ski clinic on White River, if that tells you anything. I am now on the board of directors because I realized what the sports program did for me and I wanted to make sure that other people with disabilities could experience it.

Josh Anderson:
Excellent. Ricky, what about you?

Ricky Raley:
I am paralyzed from the T12 as well, but mine was from a car accident when I was 23. I’m a veteran and I do have a Purple Heart from one of the explosions in Iraq. So I experienced all that fun stuff and then came home. I was paralyzed. And then I actually was lucky enough to go through RHI’s rehab program, which then allowed me to venture into the sports program. And before this interview here, actually, we were just talking about, I still have all the papers that Ms. Karen gave me back in ’09. And it was a stack full of papers of links and stuff about sports and how to get the equipment. And I actually used that to buy my first bike. And once I got my first hand cycle, I felt that freedom to lose my chair and get on that bike.

Ricky Raley:
And then ever since then, I realized what adaptive sports did for my mental health. And then Audie got me into basketball then he beat me up for a while, a long while. He broke my arm once so I quit playing with him. And then after just doing that, I believe in adaptive sports and the benefits of it and how it can combine that community, where you need to find that community of people to talk about your disability. I learned more from adaptive sports about how to live in a wheelchair than any type of rehab ever could because I’m talking to people who’ve been there for years. That’s why I believe in RHI Sports.

Josh Anderson:
Very nice. And we’ll dig a little bit more into that as we go on, but Karen, can you tell us a little bit about yourself as well?

Karen Lawrence:
I’ve been a recreational therapist for 20 years working in physical rehab and I am currently the director of the RHI Sports Program, which provides competitive and recreational opportunities for people with physical disabilities.

Josh Anderson:
Karen, just kind of sticking with you for a moment. What is the adaptive sports program there at RHI?

Karen Lawrence:
We provide opportunities for people who want to get out and participate in sports. If someone wants to participate in a competitive sports, we have opportunities there, or if they just want to participate in a recreational sport, but we do provide opportunities for people with physical disabilities. So we’re a little bit different than the Special Olympics.

Josh Anderson:
Very nice. And you guys can all kind of take this question. What are some of the sports that are available?

Karen Lawrence:
Well, just from the team’s perspective, RHI Sports has 11 different teams. So we have nine competitive teams; varsity and junior wheelchair basketball, wheelchair lacrosse, youth and adult sled hockey team, blind hockey, wheelchair and adaptive standup tennis, two power soccer teams, beat baseball. We have recreational teams like adult wheelchair basketball and quad rugby. We have people, if they don’t fit into an actual team, we have elite athletes, like a pair of a triathlete, a power lifter and a water skier. And then we have the recreational activities and that’s kind of like what Ricky just said, what’s not available? There are so many different types of clinics that you can participate in one day if you just want to get the feel of something, if you’re not sure, you want to get your feet wet into a different sport and just see what it’s like, and those can be anything from water skiing, fencing, table tennis, kayaking. We have clinics going on right now for like a boxing exercise program, virtual yoga, golf, an equine program and archery.

Ricky Raley:
Yeah. And as you can tell though, with that there’s no hard lines on what… They’re not going to stay in these lanes only. So if there’s new sports emerging, they’re willing to grow and find those and bring those to people as well.

Audie Kemp:
The other thing that we see are people that come out that they’re unsure of how this sport is adapted. So it’s that resource for Indiana right now, especially that I know Karen for instance, has adaptive fishing equipment and other things. So people can not only come and do our clinics, but then they can take it back home and participate with their family. So it’s adaptation of all recreation, as well as sports.

Josh Anderson:
I know we don’t have time today to talk about all these different adaptations and everything, but Ricky, I want to jump on something that you said, just because you talked about the first kind of hand cycle that you used. Tell me how that device kind of works. For folks who don’t know, what is a hand cycle?

Ricky Raley:
Yeah. So a hand cycle, there’s many variations for all different types of injury levels. The ones that you’ll see, they all operate arm power and road version are all with your arms together. So a lot of people are confused on why you don’t pedal like a normal bike individually with your hands and that has a lot to do with just the balance issues, and then turning, you can’t do those as well if your hands are separate, like a normal bike. But the one I started on was more upright. So sitting there, my feet go all the way up in a pair of stirrups essentially which are attached to the front wheel. The bikes that we ride are pretty much a normal bicycle, like drivewise, upside down. So it looks different to a lot of people, but it’s really the exact same thing as a normal bicycle on the componentry.

Ricky Raley:
And then you just pedal with your arms so you have to build up those slow twitch muscle fibers over time and then you get to the point where you can go for hundreds of miles and just keep riding, just like anyone else. And right now I ride with a bunch of my neighbors, since this, I guess COVID, happened. I ride with all my neighbors. We go out on the weekends and we ride together and it’s kind of just our time to get away and talk and I stay with all them and it’s not a problem.

Josh Anderson:
I know there’s tons of sports available, but Audie and Ricky, can you tell me, besides of course the cycling, what are some of the sports you’ve been able to participate in? And then how have they been helpful to you?

Audie Kemp:
So when I first started at the age of 15, the only adapted sport in Central Indiana was wheelchair basketball. So that’s where I started because it’s Indiana, it makes sense, right?

Josh Anderson:
Yeah.

Audie Kemp:
So I was recruited actually at an Indiana Pacers game. You have to understand, growing up with a disability, I played sports with my able body siblings and their friends. So I got pretty good at shooting, dribbling, but not moving because folks that stand up can move a little too quick. But the funny thing is, while I’m at the Pacer game, this guy comes up and goes, “Hey, have you ever tried wheelchair basketball?” And I said, “No, but [inaudible 00:14:21] to do it. And all I thought for the week before that practice was this isn’t going to be fair, I’m going to be playing against a bunch of guys in wheelchairs, I’m going to kill them. So when I get out there, they run circles around me and make me look foolish and it got my competitive spirit going. So wheelchair basketball is what started off for me.

Ricky Raley:
That’s where you broke my arm.

Audie Kemp:
I did not break your arm, you fell over trying to shoot a layup. Don’t blame that on me. Anyway, wheelchair basketball then led me into the community of disabled people all over the country. The thing is, I played wheelchair basketball for 25 years and I have friends in every state that I know that if I ever needed them, I could call because just the history of that. But wheelchair basketball led me to wheelchair tennis, wheelchair racket ball. I water skied on the club team for Ball State in the early ’90s because of an adaptation, because they have adapted PE up there. And all that kind of led me back with RHI to wheelchair basketball, which is kind of what started the growth of water skiing and then clinics and everything else has just been wonderful. So I’ve been able to try a lot of great sports. And I actually hand cycle with Ricky when I want to feel slow.

Ricky Raley:
And that’s only your six month workouts, remember?

Audie Kemp:
That’s right. Once every six months. You’re right.

Josh Anderson:
Ricky, besides the cycling, what are some other sports you’ve been able to participate in and how they’ve been able to help?

Ricky Raley:
Yeah. The wheelchair basketball was a large one that other than the cycling, the wheelchair basketball brings that community. And that’s where that and my new injury, taught me a lot of daily life skills on how to transfer in and out of things and just how to function without making the world adapt to me. Wheelchair basketball made me learn how to adapt to the world, which made me now I travel around the country, I don’t need an accessible room. I can go and get into places and do things that I would’ve never learned if I stuck to, I need adaptation. Well, wheelchair basketball brought that out and said, “Hey, there’s no adaptation. Everyone else is doing it. Why can’t you?” And so then my competitive spirit says, “Hey, I can do this. He’s doing it. So let’s do it.”

Ricky Raley:
And then that led me to mountain biking in Colorado, which is crazy because that’s a whole different style of riding and I was facing down and forward, going down a mountain on top of a bike. And then I’ve been skiing at different places, wheelchair lacrosse and other so many sports. Anything out there, I’ve tried it because I need to, I just want to try it all, it’s freeing. It’s all freeing.

Josh Anderson:
Definitely. And I think you may have just answered my next question right here, just because I was going to actually ask, what do you think is the importance of sports as a veteran, either with or without a disability?

Ricky Raley:
As a veteran, you’re already a competitive personality so when you kind of get out of it, always try to explain people when you get out of the service. And especially now we’ve had 20 year war so there’s a lot of combat veterans and it’s that need to find a placing in, and find that community in your tribe because when you come home after getting out, you lose the people you just bonded with so closely. And now that sports world gives you those people now, because you all have something in common and something that unifies you. And like Audie said, he has friends in every state because they played basketball together and they bonded over something that’s the same. So now they have these friendships that last, and actually you can grow yourself from those friendships as well and that’s the importance of sports to me.

Josh Anderson:
Karen, we’ll talk a little bit more about the program. Now, is this funded by a VA grant? Is that correct?

Karen Lawrence:
We do have a VA grant that we were just awarded this year and actually we partnered with the YMCA and the VA to get a $240,000 grant. But this has only helped to be able to get veterans to be able to participate in our program. So veterans can now participate in our program absolutely free, whether that’s a team or a clinic. But prior to that clinic, we were funded by grants, donations and [inaudible 00:18:40].

Ricky Raley:
Personal generosities.

Karen Lawrence:
There you go. So that’s pretty much how we have been funded for the last 20 plus years.

Josh Anderson:
How has the program changed over the years?

Audie Kemp:
Over the years, we’ve added youth programs. So even though the rehab hospital in Indiana is an adult rehab hospital, we saw a need in the community where we basically created youth sports because I knew the way I grew up that I really didn’t have any access to adaptive sports until I was 15. So now I think our youngest participant’s seven. The one thing the program does for veterans, injured veterans, as well as anybody with a traumatic injury or someone growing up with a disability, the one thing it does is shows them what they can do before society tells them what they can’t do. So it gives them the ability to succeed at something and get that confidence to grow on it, to try new things. I mean, that’s the thing with youth sports, what that has allowed us to do.

Ricky Raley:
Yeah. And what I’ve seen with the youth on the sports side is, when I went through school, I had sports, normal sports, able body sports and I was able to go out to my team and it’s not like these kids are going to school with disabilities are disliked or even unfriended. They have friends, but now these friends are going to these sports after school and now these people with disabilities are not allowed to go to those sports. So by having youth programs, they have an outlet as well. And so they’re not getting left behind on that social building from the teams. So I think that was an important thing for RHI to bring on youth sports.

Karen Lawrence:
Yeah. And really, when RHI started, we started off with a water skate clinic. It was just an idea between therapists who saw the need, that there wasn’t anything for people to get to once they left the hospital, there was no community. So RHI Sports has really tried to build a community for youth and adults alike. So now when that water ski program started, that’s when we’re able to start building teams. And our newest team is again like the sled hockey and the blind hockey. So we just keep growing and trying to provide new opportunities, because like Ricky said, if someone comes to us with an idea, something that they’re passionate about, we want to make sure that they can achieve that dream of theirs to participate in that specific sport.

Josh Anderson:
Excellent. Along those same lines, where do you see this program going in the future?

Karen Lawrence:
We hope to see it grow. Our hope is to be able to have a gym space over by our hospital to provide a place where all of our athletes can come together to create a bond that is not just with one team, but with all the teams and athletes. So a place where if someone’s unsure about participating in a specific sport, they can kind of come and watch it and feel comfortable watching it. We hope that Indianapolis is not just known for their amateur sports, but for their adaptive sports as well.

Josh Anderson:
Ricky, Audie, I want to get just a little bit, or I want to talk to you guys just a little bit more. Audie you just started your own company, is that correct?

Audie Kemp:
That is correct.

Josh Anderson:
Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Audie Kemp:
ATP Connect, I have worked in the rehab equipment industry for 22 years and I’ve worked for smaller companies and large corporations. And what it is, is I actually do complex rehab chairs, like I’m a paraplegic, I use a titanium wheelchair. And so what I’ve done for the last 20 years is work with new injuries or people with progressive disabilities and I work with them to get their mobility equipment. So working for large corporations and other companies, I learned that a lot of times the client doesn’t always get exactly what they need, even though that’s what insurance approves or does not approve. So what I’ve done is I’ve partnered with smaller rehab companies throughout the state, to better serve the actual entire geographic area. That way, when somebody gets their equipment from a larger hospital in Indianapolis, like RHI, then their service technician and the company that takes care of them is more in their backyard and not here in Indianapolis. So the motto is centralized expertise with local service, and that’s what I do.

Josh Anderson:
Very nice. And Ricky, did you use to sell adaptive equipment as well?

Ricky Raley:
Yeah. It’s also for a larger company and then I did a lot of fittings and for a lot of adaptive equipment, like the adaptive sports equipment, that’s kind of where I stayed, that realm. And what I always noticed was, people are afraid to order that stuff and the therapists and the doctors are afraid to prescribe it because they’re not exactly sure how to fit them for it. And then when it comes it’s wrong, or… So it’s kind of what I was doing, was kind of specializing and helping people get the equipment they need fitted right because when you don’t understand is, the equipment we have, those are our mobility. It’s how we get around. And then when there’s a long delay on it, when I got a bike from the VA for the first time, it took over a year to get it.

Josh Anderson:
Wow.

Ricky Raley:
Well, that’s great, they got me a bike, but that year timeframe you’re waiting, you’re waiting, you’re waiting. So there’s no need for that long period. And then when it came, it was wrong. So it’s kind of what drove me to that and that’s why Audie’s company he just started, it’s amazing to see he’s finally going after that and help changing that model to give people because the end user experiences everything, and that’s what needs to be focused on.

Josh Anderson:
Very good. I’m glad you guys brought that up and Audie I’m glad you’re kind of doing that. Because I know it seems like any time in any kind of mobility aid of any sort, there’s almost a thought that it’s one size fits all in that could not be farther from the truth.

Ricky Raley:
Absolutely.

Josh Anderson:
Well guys, if our listeners want to find out more about adaptive sports for veterans, about anything we talked about today, what’s the best way for them to do that?

Karen Lawrence:
Well, for the RHI Sports Program, they can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or on our webpage at rhirehab.com or they can also just call or email us with any questions. They can call us at (317) 329-2020 or rhisports@rhin.com.

Josh Anderson:
Well guys, we’re kind of running out of time here, but I’d love to get just some kind of some last thoughts, some quick little things that you would say to someone who maybe has a disability, maybe a veteran who’s kind of coming back. What’s just some advice you’d give to them about sports and the importance of it?

Ricky Raley:
Embrace the uncomfortable, you can only grow once you come out of it and go out and just try it and don’t give up. Anything Audie?

Audie Kemp:
For me, I would say don’t knock it till you try it. And then if you try it once, you’ll come back.

Ricky Raley:
And don’t break your friend’s arm.

Audie Kemp:
And don’t blame your friends for your own mistakes.

Josh Anderson:
All right. Well, very, very good. Karen, Ricky, Audie, thank you all so much for coming on the show today and talking to us all about adaptive sports.

Karen Lawrence:
Thank you.

Audie Kemp:
Thank you very much.

Josh Anderson:
Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on Assistive Technology Update? If you, do call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Shoot us a note on Twitter at INDATA Project, or check us out on Facebook. Are you looking for a transcript or show notes? Head on over to our website at www.eastersealstech.com. Assistive Technology Update is a proud member of the Accessibility Channel. For more shows like this, plus so much more, head over to accessibilitychannel.com. The views expressed by our guests are not necessarily that of this host or the INDATA Project. This has been your Assistive Technology Update, I’m Josh Anderson, with the INDATA Project at Easter Seals Crossroads in Indianapolis, Indiana. Thank you so much for listening and we’ll see you next time.